RKS 2026 CANADIAN WINE: Oxley 2021 Syrah from Lake Erie North Shore

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s 11April2026 Vintages catalogue describing this wine states, “Syrah is challenging to grow in Ontario, flourishing in only a select few ideal climates.” Very true.

Aroma: Black fruit predominates primarily black currant and blackberry. Root beer. A certain smokiness.

Palate: Tart red cherry. Lacking in richness. Mild tannins and acids that are in balance. Short finish.

Personality: Not a Rhône Ranger if you are looking for one. Perhaps call me a Syrah Lite? If Lake Erie North Shore and Niagara can’t get it right British Columbia certainly can.

Food Match: Japanese shrimp curry.  Serving chilled on a warm summer day might work best.

Cellarbility: Drink in 2026.

Price: $19 CDN.

RKS 2026 CANADIAN WINE RATING: 84/100.

(Oxley Estate Winery Syrah 2021, VQA Lake Erie North Shore, Oxley Estate Winery, Harrow, Ontario 750 ml, 12%).

RKS CANADIAN Film: “Mould”: Brittle Mental Health

Stevie (Stephanie Petallano) is a twenty something waking up to a surprise believing her hands are moulded clay. At her workplace her clay hands transform into porcelain and the rest of her face into clay save for her eyes. Her mind deceives her as she is the sole witness to this horrific and imaginary transformation.

Alone in a dark office storeroom a fellow worker Clara (Morgan Mitchell) shares a moment of truth with Stevie confessing she doesn’t feel real and she’ll be stuck like this forever.

Perfection and disassociation may be but an illusion.

The interplay of live action and Claymation deliver a commanding presentation, a physical presentation if you like, of mental illness in a simplistic but highly tangible and effective manner.

Written by Morgan Abele and directed by Abele and Kiki Evans.

The film was shown at an 11April2026 Crazy8’s Gala Screening in Vancouver.,

RKS CANADIAN Film Rating 83/100.

Crazy8s is an 8-day short filmmaking challenge and program that provides support and funding to emerging filmmakers to produce a short film and provides training opportunities to crew and cast. Each year, more than 100 teams apply to be part of Crazy8s.

Crazy8s is run by the Crazy8s Film Society, a registered British Columbia not-for-profit organization. Its mandate is to foster support for emerging and mid-career BC-based, Canadian short filmmakers who have limited access to resources or funding to produce professional-quality short-form content. Since 1999, Crazy8s has produced 151 short films that have gone on to win awards at film festivals worldwide.

RKS Literature: Yankee Whalers as Sea Peasants (Herman Melville)

 “To be sure, from the small number of English whalers, such meetings do not very often occur, and when they do occur there is too apt to be sort of a shyness between them; for your Englishman is rather reserved, and your Yankee, he does not fancy that sort of thing in anybody but himself. Besides, the English Whalers sometimes effect a kind of metropolitan superiority over the American whalers; regarding the long, lean Nantucketer, with his nondescript provincialisms, as a sort of sea-peasant.”

Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”, 1851.

RKS Literature: Spaghetti All Over Her Snout: BAD DOG! (Kerk Murray)

“In that moment of our absence, we discovered that our thirteen-pound senior dog was an acrobat. Chelsea was standing on the table devouring our dinner, unabashed. She looked at us proudly with spaghetti on her nose and a loaf of bread in her mouth. I glanced at my mom, who was furious as she stood with widened eyes and clenched fists. I fought hard, biting my lip to hold back laughter-I don’t think I ever heard her yell so loud.

‘Bad Dog!’

Kerk Murray, “Pawprints On Our Hearts”, 2021.

RKS Literature: How a Dog Can Capture Your Heart Making You Realize What’s Important About Life (Kerk Murray)

“It only took a few weeks for Chelsea to find her way into my heart- and for me to find my way into hers. With each passing day, she was willing to become more vulnerable as I continued to meet her where she was. Trust was built as I patiently learned about her boundaries and respected them. Although Chelsea needed me that summer I also needed her. Through that little dog, I understood the value of looking beyond the exterior of others- that if you dare explore beneath the surface, we may stumble upon something truly lovely. But more than that, what I’m most proud of is what Chelsea learned; that no matter what her past held, a new chapter of her story was being written-one where she captivated the heart of a young boy who would love her forever.”

Kerk Murray, “Pawprints On Our Hearts”, 2021.

RKS 2026 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA WINES: Longyu Estate 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon

What do we hear about China and its wines? That they know little about wine. That they are obsessed with prestige and mix enormously expensive first growth Bordeaux with Coca-Cola. I suspect this may be hogwash but until in China touring their wineries what do I know? As a lawyer I know hearsay evidence is largely inadmissible.

What I know is given China’s off the grid as a tourist destination, its attractive food reputation and intriguing historical sites and regions it may be an explosive player in wine tourism. But what are we to know unless more Chinese wines hit the Canadian marketplace reviewed and discussed in the wine media?

China’s wines are viewed with arrogance. What do they know about wine? There would seem to be some realities of utilization of “flying winemakers” and consultants that lend creds to the emergence of Chinese wines.

Is there an opportunity for Chinese wines in Canada? Perhaps given Canadian’s suspicions and distrust of many things “American” my Chinese readers may be encouraged by the fact some Canadian provinces have denied access to American wines due to Trumpian crude insults to Canada the land of igloo people and threats of annexation as the 51st state. A massive supplier of fentanyl into the United States…a pie faced lie unsupported by evidence. The Trumpian way well be known by Canadians and Chinese. Aggressive falsehoods.

Put another way……China, now is the time to strike if you wish to promote your wines. Get Canadian wine writers over to China and show them “what ya got”, Fill their glasses, show them your beautiful geography and historical sites and feed them your wonderful food.

Aroma: Lush and plush blueberry with smoothness hinted at. Blackberry and dark chocolate.

Palate: Tannins moderate and beautifully controlled acidity. Smooth and coherent. Masterfully intertwined blackberry, cassis with a small amount of tar. Long finish. Youthful.

Cellarbility: A baby wine needing more time in the bottle. A bit tight and reticent. Would give it until 2029 to strut its stuff.

Food Match: Not having been to Ningxia Helan Mountain Eastern Foothills and sampled their cuisine I will soil myself in embarrassment and suggest Hunan Beef.

Personality: Chinese wines have travelled a long road and I think with this wine we are on the way!

Price: $32. Are you on a suicide mission China? At this price from an untested provenance this price shows arrogance and misunderstanding. Are you paying Mosel as your joint venturer a bit too much???

RKS 2026 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA WINES Rating: 91/100.

(Longyu Estate Selection 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, Wines of China, Ningxia, China, 750 mL, 14.5%)

RKS Literature: An Author Responds to Reviews of His Work (Henry James)

“ I don’t read things in the newspapers unless they’re thrust upon me as that one was-it’s always one’s best friend who does it. But I used to read them sometimes-ten years ago. I dare say they were in general rather stupider then; at any rate it always struck me they missed my little point with a perfection exactly as admirable when they patted me on the back as when they kicked me in the shins.”

Henry James, “The Figure in the Carpet”, 1896.

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: AM I LIVING NATALIE IMBRUGLIA’S SONG “TORN”?

AM I LIVING NATALIE IMBRUGLIA’S SONG “TORN”?

Some of the lyrics in Natalie Imbruglia’s 1977 hit “Torn” read, “I’m cold, ashamed lying naked on the floor…”.

I endured my first grooming yesterday. Fay was telling me I was going to the doggie spa. Alright I thought, cucumber slices on my eyes, a manicure and some liver treats. That is not what happened!

A bath, which I detest and struggle like a mad hatter. Buzzing machines all over my body. And being placed in a cage after my grooming until Bob and Fay picked me up. Boy was I glad to see them!

What happened is I lost my identity. Shaved down to the skin. Matting. If only I had not given Bob such a hard time when he brushed me the shave down “a la USMC” might never have happened. I am very protective of my head and snout and gave the groomer a very difficult time.

I feel naked. I feel cold. I feel a bit ashamed of giving Bob such a hard time with his grooming attempts.

Gone is the cute looking Westie. I have received some comments saying I look like a Jack Russell Terrier but that reference to looking like a Chihuahua is BEYOND THE PALE! Another comment is that I looked some creature painted on the sarcophagus of an ancient Egyptian king!

I was so stressed out by the “doggie spa” I had three successive accidents in the house last night. I am ashamed of that too.

I need “grooming training” meaning a visit to the groomer every two months for a trim.

And I thought being a puppy was just having fun and getting scolded a few times a day for naughtiness. Think again Rory. Think again.

RKS Literature:  Treating Life as a Practical Joke (Herman Melville)

 “There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody’s expense but his own. However, nothing dispirits, nothing seems worth disputing. He bolts down all events, all creeds, and beliefs, and persuasions, all hard things visible and invisible, never mind how knobby; as an ostrich of potent digestion gobbles down bullets and gun flints.”

Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”, 1851.